No.128 was one of an order of three 0-6-0ST locomotives built
for the NSWGR by
Vulcan Foundry of Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire. These locomotives were
used for a variety of branch-line duties including the Richmond and Camden
lines. These three locomotives were later grouped with some similar
locomotives to form the P(127) class. a

P 128 was allocated to the Yass Tramway from 1892 to
1910 and would have made many return trips on the short
branch from the main line at Yass Junction to Yass Township.
P 128 was then sold to the Commonwealth Government and used in the
construction of the Jervis Bay breakwater. a, b

P 128
was later sold to Kalingo Colliery, Cessnock but
wasset aside by 1938. a At some stage it attracted the attention of scrap
metal collectors and the saddle-tank and boiler were cut apart (presumably
to access the copper firebox and tubes) leaving the
remaining frames, wheels and smokebox languishing at Kalingo. During the
early preservation era these
remnants were expected to be scrapped and thus various components such as
the side rods & brake rigging were removed and are apparently now stored
with the DSR&M collection at Dorrigo. d

The remnants of P 128 were retrieved from Kalingo
Colliery in 1983and initially displayed at the Richmond Vale Railway
Museum. a (When I first
encountered this loco at Richmond Main around 1989, half of the heavily-rusted saddle-tank
also remained; this had presumably been obtained from Kalingo Colliery as a pattern. I'm not sure if
this remnant still exists.) d

P 128 moved to the Yass Railway Museum in 1992. As an unlikely coincidence, the boiler of sister loco P 129 was
later discovered to survive at a
sawmill. (The sawmill operator apparently purchased P129 from Mt Kiera Colliery
in 1950's and, as only the boiler was needed, the rest of P 129 was left for
scrap). This boiler was purchased and transported to Yass in April 2000
and subsequently fitted to P 128. c

Hopefully in the future a replacement saddle-tank and cab roof could be
manufactured, and the various smaller components in the DSR&M collection
refitted, at which point P 128 could be presented as a reasonably complete
exhibit and interesting and historic survivor of early NSWGR branch-line
power. d

This rear view of P128 at Yass
is dated 31 July 2010.

The Yass Junction station sign in the background is a museum exhibit,
salvaged from the mainline junction at the other end of the Yass Tramway!

This view shows the original P128 smokebox, stored amongst various
bric-a-brac at the Yass Museum on 31 July 2010. The
remains of several copper fire tubes can be seen, together with crude
oxy-cut marks where the boiler shell was cut open. This Smokebox was
still attached to the frames when the remains of P128 were first
preserved, but was replaced by the more complete P129 boiler & smokebox.

References

a

"A Compendium of
New South Wales Steam Locomotives" compiled by Alex Grunbach, published by
the Australian Railway Historical Society, New South Wales Division, 1989,
P.59

b

Visitor's Guide provided by
the Yass Railway Museum, from my visit of 2 October 2002.